The present invention relates to a container of solid processing agent used for silver halide photosensitive material and a package containing the solid processing agent. This solid processing agent used for silver halide photosensitive material will be referred to as a processing agent, hereinafter. More particularly, the present invention relates to a container of solid processing agent used for silver halide photosensitive material in which the problems of damage of the solid processing agent and occurrence of powder are solved in the process of conveyance or handling in the case where the solid processing agent is formed into tablets.
Usually, silver halide photosensitive material is subjected to development processing, using processing solutions such as a monochromatic developing solution, fixing solution, color developing solution, bleaching solution, bleaching and fixing solution, and stabilizing solution. For convenience, each processing solution is usually put into plastic bottles in the form of a single type processing solution or a plurality of types of processing solutions, and these bottles filled with the processing solution are supplied to users as a processing solution kit. Users dissolve the processing solution kit in water, so that the processing solution can be used for development as a starting solution or a replenishing solution.
Recently, in the business world of photographic processing, the number of small-scale developing factories referred to as a mini-laboratory is increased, wherein automatic small developing apparatus are used in the mini-laboratory. As the number of the mini-laboratories is increased, the number of plastic bottles used for processing solution is sharply increased every year.
Since plastic is light and strong, it is widely used not only for the bottles of photographic processing solutions but also for other purposes. Production of plastic is increased in the world every year. In 1988, the annual production exceeded a hundred million tons. On the other hand, an amount of waste plastic is large. For example, in Japan, about 40% of its production is discarded as waste. When waste plastic is discarded into the sea, environmental problems are caused, and marine animals are affected. In Europe, waste plastic is incinerated in incinerators, the exhaust gas processing devices of which are incomplete, which is one of the causes of acid rain, and the problems of acid rain become acute every year.
In the circumstances described above, it is not preferable that a large number of plastic bottles are used for the photographic processing solutions.
In order to solve the above problems, consideration is given to a countermeasure in which the photographic processing agent is changed into powder. In this case, the following problems may be encountered: In the process of dissolving powder of the photographic processing agent, powder is scattered and workers inhale the scattered powder, which is not good for workers health. Further, the scattered powder is mixed with another photographic processing agent, and the mixed photographic processing agent deteriorates the photographic performance.
In order to overcome the above disadvantages, a technique is disclosed, in which the photographic processing agent is changed into granules, that is, the photographic processing agent is changed into a granule mixture. This technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public inspection Nos. 109042/1990, 109043/1990 and 39735/1991 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,843,484. However, even when the above technique is adopted, the following problems may be encountered: Powder of the photographic processing agent is scattered, which affects the worker's health. Scattered powder is mixed with another processing solution in the form of impurities. A caking phenomenon is caused, in which the dissolved powder is deposited and coagulated on the bottom of a container. Granules of the photographic processing agent are coated with wet films which make the dissolution of granules difficult. Therefore, the scope of use of granular photographic processing agent is limited.
In order to solve the above problems utilizing the advantages of the solid type photographic processing agent, a tablet type photographic processing agent is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection Nos. 61837/1976 and 119454/1993.
Even when the above tablet type processing agent is adopted, several disadvantages may be encountered. For example, while the tablet type processing agent is transported being put in a container, the tablets in the container are damaged and powdered by the vibration and shock given to the tablets. When the tablets are damaged in the manner described above, it is impossible to charge an accurate amount of processing agent into the automatic developing unit, and the concentration of the processing agent in the processing tank can not be maintained at a predetermined value. Therefore, the photographic performance can not be maintained at a predetermined level.
Further, the powdered processing agent obstructs the conveyance of the tablets when they are sent out from the container. Furthermore, the powder adheres to a charging port of the automatic developing unit and absorbs moisture and coagulates. Due to the foregoing, the charging port is narrowed, which makes it difficult to charge the tablets through the charging port.
The present inventors have made various investigations and discovered the following: In the case where the tablets of photographic processing agent are accommodated in a container, dimensions of the container are determined in a specific range with respect to the height and thickness of the tablets. Due to the foregoing, the above problems can be solved.